Laboratoire des cultures in vitro, Département de phytotechnie, Faculté des sciences agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi BP 1825, Lubumbashi, RD Congo
Banana is exposed to many problems including excessive soil salinity and irrigation waters that decrease productivity. This trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of salinity on the behavior of banana and diversity of fungi in the soil. The trial was installed under greenhouse craft following a completely randomized design with 3 replications. Two banana cultivars (Pelipita ABB and Plantain) were subjected to increasing doses of NaCl (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 g/ l). The behavior of cultivars, Na and K accumulation in the leaves and the color diversity of fungi were studied. The results obtained show a similar behavior between the two cultivars of banana on the observed parameters, except the leaf area in 15 days, which is high on the cultivar 1. High levels of NaCl decrease leaf area. Significant differences were observed with a high accumulation of Na with T1 and T2 and a high accumulation of K in T5 and T7. Finally the treatments that received low doses of salt have found a high diversity of fungi colors. These results show that the selection of tolerant cultivars is an inexpensive option to increase banana yield on saline soils, in a context where some poor farming practices such as irrigation and mineral fertilization lead to salinization.